Rick Scott’s evolution, challenges

From a candidate with strong Tea Party ties, the governor has tried to reach out to groups that he has alienated during his tenure.

By Lloyd DunkelbergerHalifax Media Services

After three years in office, Gov. Rick Scott has evolved from a candidate with strong Tea Party ties to a governor who has tried to reach out to groups that he has alienated during his tenure.In his first year as governor, Scott backed a 10 percent cut in school funding as part of an austere budget that sought to deeply cut state spending while also making major tax cuts. But by his third year, with rebounding state revenues and low public approval ratings, Scott advanced a budget that included a $480 million teacher pay raise that was endorsed by lawmakers.That’s one example of Scott’s transformation as governor.But as Scott heads to his fourth year in office and his re-election campaign, the bigger question is how voters will view Scott’s performance.Here’s a look at how Scott’s stances have been reshaped by three years in office and how it could help or hurt him in the coming re-election year.

Scott didn’t come into office as an “education governor.” He did include “world-class education” as one of his seven steps to reviving Florida’s economy. But school funding took a major hit in his first proposed budget, with Scott recommending a 10 percent cut in per-student funding that was announced at a rally in front of Tea Party activists in Central Florida.Scott can argue that the drop in state revenue caused by the recession limited his options. But a big factor was that Scott was seeking to further cut state revenue through major tax cuts, including the eventual elimination of the corporate income tax, which brings in more than $2 billion a year to the state.Lawmakers ended up cutting school funding, but not to the degree that Scott recommended.In his two subsequent budgets, Scott reversed field and successfully pushed for a $1 billion increase in state funding for the kindergarten through high school system. However, in his second year, he signed a budget — at a St. Johns County elementary school — that included a $300 million cut for state universities.As part of the increased K-12 funding this year, Scott won approval for a $480 million teacher pay raise. By mid-December, his office reported that 52 of the 67 Florida school districts had approved the raises. Lawmakers also restored the $300 million university cut from the previous year.

While some may question Scott’s credibility as an education governor, Scott has relentlessly positioned himself as a “jobs” governor, coming into office with the promise to create 700,000 jobs in seven years.As of December, Scott claimed 440,000 private-sector jobs have been created, putting his goal of 700,000 jobs by 2018 within reach. But Democrats noted Scott originally promised 700,000 new jobs on top of “normal economic growth,” which would put his real goal closer to 1.7 million. The jobs numbers will be a point of contention in the coming campaign.Scott will benefit from an improving state economy during his tenure. The unemployment rate has dropped from 10.9 percent in his first month in office to 6.4 percent in November. Critics will note that economists attribute a portion of the decline to the fact that Florida’s workforce has also shrunk over time.Scott will be able to use the reality of a lower unemployment rate to contrast himself with former Gov. Charlie Crist — his expected Democratic opponent — who saw Florida’s unemployment rate soar to 11.4 percent during his tenure while the state and nation fell into the grip of a major recession.

As the former head of the nation’s largest for-profit health care company, Scott brought plenty of expertise in health care.Under his watch, the state has continued to move its Medicaid program — which provides health care for Florida’s poor and disabled residents — into a managed care system.But the biggest health care issue has become whether Florida will expand its Medicaid program under the federal health care law known as Obamacare. Scott, who as private citizen strongly opposed federal health care reform, shocked many earlier this year when he announced he would support a Medicaid expansion, which would bring more than $50 billion in federal funding to the state over the next decade.Scott did little to push the issue in the 2013 session, when the House’s firm opposition to the plan killed its chances. Lately, while Scott hasn’t formally backed off his position, he has said little about it.

Scott brought in an aggressive plan to cut state taxes when he was elected in 2010. In his first session, he pushed for more than $2 billion in tax cuts over a period of years. One of his main goals was the elimination of the state’s corporate income tax, which he argued would help draw more businesses to the state.Scott has had mixed success on the tax cuts. He won more than $300 million in tax cuts in his first year, including a cut in property taxes and a modest reduction in the corporate income tax that resulted from an expansion of an exemption for businesses that pay the tax.In 2013, Scott won approval for a cut in taxes for manufacturing companies.But heading into his final session before re-election, Scott has put his focus on reducing more than $400 million in motor vehicle fees paid by Floridians. The fees were raised by lawmakers and endorsed by Crist in 2009.The fee cuts are likely to resonate more with rank-and-file voters than Scott’s effort to reduce the income tax paid by major corporations.On the spending side, although the state budget has grown with improving state revenues, Scott can take credit for dramatically cutting state debt. The amount of money the state is borrowing has dropped by $3.6 billion over the last three years, with a $1.6 billion drop in the last fiscal year under Scott’s watch.Part of the tradeoff for the reduced debt has been less spending on the purchase of environmentally sensitive land and construction for universities.

Scott backed an elections law in 2011 that cut early voting days from two weeks to eight days. The shorter early-voting period was blamed by some for voting problems in the 2012 election.In the 2013 session, with Scott’s backing, lawmakers revamped the election law, allowing local elections supervisors to have up to 14 days of early voting. The bill also expanded the sites that can be used for early voting.Scott has been less flexible on his support for purging non-citizens from the state’s voting rolls. He first pushed the issue before the 2012 elections but it failed to gain traction. The Department of State, which is under Scott’s control, renewed the effort this year but again it has not been enthusiastically embraced by local elections officials.

As an advocate for a smaller government, Scott was not likely to find many allies among state workers and other public employees.He joined legislative leaders in requiring state workers and others who rely on the Florida pension fund to contribute 3 percent of their salaries toward the retirement fund. Scott also appears open to the idea pushed by House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to eliminate the traditional pension plan for new public employees and instead offer them a retirement plan similar to 401(k) programs used in the private sector.Scott has been a consistent advocate for drug testing state workers — which is an issue that has drawn extended litigation.Scott approved a budget this year that included the first pay raise state workers have had in the last seven years.— Lloyd Dunkelberger writes for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

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